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Mario and Luigi - Partners in Time: Reviews

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Game Score: 9/10

Mario and Luigi - Partenrs in Time-well, where can I begin? This is the 4th installment of the outstanding Mario RPG series, and follows on from the duo's advnetures in the Beanbean Kingdom.

All was well, until The Mushroom Kingdom was hit by 'Back to the Future' syndrome-the game's main gimmick is a past/present motif, with the brothers travelling between past and present Mushroom Kingdom. And here's why:

---In the past, about 25 years before the main Mario time, invaders from a far-off planet, known as 'Shroobs', gazed upon the splendour of the Mushroom Kingdom. Aching to leave their dark, mushroomy planet for want of a new home, they set off in sinister UFOs and invade the Mushroom Kingdom of yesteryear-the Mario brothers don't have their mustaches of justice, so who's gonna protect them? Oh dear. As the young Mario successfully tackles Baby Bowser's attempt to run off with Baby Peach (how precocious o_o), the castle is stricken, and the baby Marios, alongside Peach, Bowser, and Kamek, escape.

However, in the current time, Professor E. Gadd has just invented a time machine...see where this is going? When Peach doesn't return from her little past expedition, and a damaged time machine returns with an unfriendly guest, space-time continuum rips, causing various links to the Mushroom Kingdom of the past. In their usual schtick of princess-rescuing, the adult brothers journey to the past, only to be attacked by the deadly Shroobs in a nearby town. Luckily, the Babies save the adults' skin, although their escape plan is somewhat hindered by the mysterious leader of the aliens, Princess Shroob. As the paradox-inducing quartet of Marios travels the land of the past, how can they save the future?---

The game, continuing in its usual fashion, features everything you'd expect form a Mario RPG-and some things you wouldn't. Naturally, the juxtaposition of serious RPG/tongue-in-cheek Mario charm leads to some brilliant humour from most of the characters, the dialogue is hilarious, and very well modernised. You won't see L33t5p33k in most RPGs (except maybe World of Warcraft ._.), but the 'L337 H4MM3R BR0Z' will crack you up, plus the inclusion and articulation of modern phrases and slang, such as 'glommed'.

The battle system is one of ML:PiT's greatest assets, devianting preferrably from the 'boring' menu-based battle systems from Final Fantasy, as the player must press buttons at the right times in order to maximise the effects of their moves, cleverly incorporated by the 'Bros. Items', the replacement to Bros. Attacks from Superstar Saga.

The soundtracks is of high quality, scored by Yoko Shimomura it combines a lilting comical backing (i.e. the battle theme) with an atmospheric and well-fitting score (i.e. Hollijolli Village theme). The voices are generally for comic effect, especially the Babies' cries of 'Peekaboo', and the adults' mock Italian phrases.

The game looks very impressive for the DS, with highly deatailed backdrops, great battle animations, and often greatly entertaining little 'scenes', (often at poor Luigi's expense!) which really give the story life.

However, all great games have snags, and it has been criticised that, great while it lasts, Partners in Time is very short. It is possible to finish the game in under 10 hours, with the only replay value in the form of bean collecting mini-games.

Another thing that I have noticed is that the game is quite difficult for younger players. While later moves make the enemies easy to defeat, it is noticable that, as levelling up only properly upgrades one stat, (and this levelling may only happen 20 or so times during the game), that early enemies and bosses take a LOT of time to beat, especially without Bros. Items, and that if you are hit with their attacks, some can knock out your characters (especially the babies) in 1 or 2 hits.

Touch Screen fans beware: Partners in Time seems to have forgotten what else the DS can do as well as dual screen-the touch screen is used only ONCE throughout the whole game, and not to a particularly high standard.

HOWEVER, all the criticisms to one side, this is definitely a game for those who are into Mario or RPGs, as the fresh battle system, constant humour and general high quality of Partners in Time make it a thouroughly enjoyable experience! Let's a-go play it!